1. Start on the Esplanade What do you think you will find inside the

gate? How are you feeling before entering the castle?

2. March to the National War Museum This is Hospital Square. Here you will find

the military hospital building.

The war is underway and you are here at Edinburgh Castle to join the Army and to follow in the footsteps of other recruits.

Go into the Museum to Gallery 5 In Defence. Find the nurse’s uniform.

A nurse wearing a uniform like this will look after you. Take a picture of the uniform or draw it in the box opposite.

Name:

First World War Recruitment

First World War RecruitsCastle map to guide you on page 3.

Write or draw your answer:

Find the nurse’s autograph book in the same display. It contains artwork, notes, autographs and poems from wounded servicemen. Why do you think the nurse made and kept this book?

Looking at other evidence in this display, what would life have been like for those working in wartime hospitals?

1.

2.

4. March on to the Prisons of War You are sharing the castle with prisoners

of war, who are housed in this building.

Go inside and find out more by reading the timeline.

Who are the prisoners you might meet?

A recruit describes prisoners arriving:

“It was grey and gloomy when the prisoners passed within the grey walls of the fortress… A thick fog enveloped the city, and Princes Street Gardens… were enshrouded in mist. On their way to the castle the prisoners passed along the side of the Esplanade, where there was a portion of Kitchener’s Army in training.”

In the same case there is a musical instrument called a Bugle. As a recruit you might learn to play this.

What was it used for?

3. March up the hill to the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum

This is where you’ll stay while you complete your training. You may have to spend your first night with just a blanket, concrete floor and your kitbag as a pillow before being assigned your bed here!

Go to Room 3 Find the trench periscope in the display case

of objects from the First World War.

What was a periscope used for?

It looks like it has been made from something you might find in your kitchen! What is it?

Entrance

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100m

N

Start

Finish

National War Museum

Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum

Prisons of War

National War Memorial

The Royal Scots Museum andMuseum of The Royal Regiment of Scotland

Key

Esplanade

Castle map

5. March round the corner to The Royal Scots Museum and Museum of The Royal Regiment of Scotland

This is the Drill Hall, where new recruits are put through their paces. Once you’ve finished your training, you’ll be sent to the front line.

Go to The Royal Scots display in The Great War gallery

Find the gold tin sent to soldiers. Fill in the missing words.

Mary sent this to soldiers

for Christmas in

How would you feel receiving this gift?

Explore what happened to some Royal Scots soldiers during the war, including a train accident in 1915. Describe one example below

More prisoners will be arriving tonight. Describe them arriving in a few sentences below.

First World War RecruitsThe First World War ends in 1918.

Des

igne

d an

d ill

ustr

ated

by

Daw

son

Crea

tive.

In the same building, find the Museum of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.Think about today’s soldiers and how their experiences compare to those of a First World War soldier. Look for the display which remembers a soldier killed in action.

What is the soldier’s name?

As well as soldiers, there were many others who were vital to the war effort who are remembered in the windows and carvings of the Memorial. Look for:

an animal

a nurse

Which other design did you choose and why?

Think of three words to describe what it was like to be a recruit at Edinburgh Castle.

1.

2.

3. Sketch your own memorial, inspired

by these words and your visit.

6. Take time to reflect and go quietly into the Scottish National War Memorial

This was built to honour those who died during the First World War. Today it remembers all those who died in later conflicts.

a soldier

another design that interests you

Do you think the way we remember fallen soldiers has changed since the First World War?

In partnership with: